Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeConversation groups start international friendships
December 14, 2009 —
International students can join conversation groups to practice with spoken English. For students such as Mohammed Al-Muhanna, joining did much more.
“It was like an ice breaker to the culture here,” said Al-Muhanna, a business administration junior from Saudi Arabia. “It’s helpful to have someone to guide you and show you that it’s OK to sit and talk to the local people.”
Al-Muhanna is part of a conversation pod, a group that typically consists of seven people — three domestic students and four international. People in the community may also participate if they would like to practice a foreign language in an informal setting or simply exchange ideas about culture.
Pods meet weekly, and the organization plans monthly outings to shopping centers, pumpkin farms and other local spots. Coordinators also put together a Halloween party and a Thanksgiving “pod-luck” dinner, where each pod brings two traditional dishes to share.
Jolene Jaquays, coordinator for the English Language Program, says that that’s the extent to which some students participate; but more often than not, pod partners form a much stronger bond.
President of the organization and Spanish education senior Heather Platte said she took her first pod group home with her during Christmas break. The girls later became her roommates.
“They help me decorate the Christmas tree, and my mom had a cookie exchange,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”
“It wasn’t like I had to go to this every week and that was that. [My conversation partner] became my best American friend ever,” Al-Muhanna said. “She took me to her grandparents’ and introduced me to her family . . . to her dog,” he said, laughing.
“In Saudi Arabia, a dog is just an animal that could bite or harm you,” he said. “But when I went to her house and met her dog, I found out that a dog is just a playful creature.”
Other students, such as elementary education sophomore Lauren Cheaney, say that conversation pods helped them learn about other cultures without having to leave Saginaw. Her group, for instance, discuss nuances in culture, climate and customs, along with participants’ native meals and desserts.
Record-breaking numbers of international students are on campus this year, so the pods’ coordinators weren’t surprised that the number of participants topped past years’ as well.
Platte says that since she’s joined in 2005, the number had never reached 100. The number of this year’s participants is nearing 200. But the pods’ effects transcend numbers.
“If it weren’t for conversation pods, I would be very closed to the local culture,” Al-Muhanna said. “I wouldn’t make friends. I wouldn’t volunteer. I would still have the doubts and fears you get coming from a different culture, not knowing where to go or how to talk to people.”